MLB News

Padres rally to beat Reds, sweep series

By
Nathan Ruiz and Jay ParisMLB.com

SAN DIEGO -- Since Franchy Cordero entered the Padres' system, the organization has viewed him as an impactful hitter. He made sure the Reds see him the same way, as he paced San Diego to a sweep of Cincinnati, hitting his first three Major League homers in the first two games before driving in the go-ahead run in Wednesday's 4-2 victory.

After Reds reliever Michael Lorenzen issued consecutive four-pitch walks to start the seventh, Cordero grounded a 1-1 pitch into right field, scoring Matt Szczur to give the Padres a 3-2 lead. It was the 22-year-old's fifth RBI of the series, during which he had multiple hits in each game and slashed .500/.500/1.214.

SAN DIEGO -- Since Franchy Cordero entered the Padres' system, the organization has viewed him as an impactful hitter. He made sure the Reds see him the same way, as he paced San Diego to a sweep of Cincinnati, hitting his first three Major League homers in the first two games before driving in the go-ahead run in Wednesday's 4-2 victory.

After Reds reliever Michael Lorenzen issued consecutive four-pitch walks to start the seventh, Cordero grounded a 1-1 pitch into right field, scoring Matt Szczur to give the Padres a 3-2 lead. It was the 22-year-old's fifth RBI of the series, during which he had multiple hits in each game and slashed .500/.500/1.214.

"I think it was a great series," Cordero said through a team interpreter. "I think everything was going well. I think the biggest thing is just to keep working hard so that I can repeat it for the next one."

The Padres added an insurance run in the frame when Hunter Renfroe hit an RBI groundout with the bases loaded. Renfroe tied the game the inning before when he crushed a two-run home run off left-hander Amir Garrett.

"I made a mistake to Renfroe,'' Garrett said, "but stuff like that happens.''

The Reds jumped ahead on Jhoulys Chacin's second pitch, which Jose Peraza sent over the left-field fence for his first career leadoff homer and the Reds' first of the season. Joey Votto took Chacin deep in the fourth for his 19th home run. Besides the two long balls, Chacin was exceptional, as he often has been at Petco Park this season. The right-hander allowed only the two runs in his seven innings to improve to 4-1 with a 1.72 ERA at home as the Padres won their third straight.

MOMENTS THAT MATTEREDRenfroe's rookie rockets: With his team down 2-0 and Yangervis Solarte on first, Renfroe pounded a 1-1 pitch from Garrett into Petco Park's Estrella Jalisco Landing. At 112.4 mph off the bat, it was the second-hardest home run of his career, according to Statcast™. His 14th blast also tied the Padres' record for home runs by a rookie before the All-Star break, set by Nate Colbert in 1969. His 10 career home runs at Petco Park have traveled an average projected distance of 403.5 feet, with the latest going 433 and ending an 0-for-17 stretch for Renfroe. Green said Renfroe will at times be overaggressive, adding his swing is quick enough that he doesn't need to cheat on a pitch to hit a ball well.

"That's been the consistent message to him, just trust who you are," Green said. "You don't have to hit it over the scoreboard, over the TV or over Western Metal. Just the fence counts the same. Every now and again, he wants to hit it further than a human being's ever hit it."

Aybar-ed from scoring: With the Reds leading 1-0 in the second and Erick Aybar on first, Padres catcher Luis Torrens laced a double to left-center. With Aybar racing around the bases as the tying run, center fielder Arismendy Alcantara tracked the ball in the gap and fired toward the infield. Second baseman Scooter Gennett, serving as the cutoff man, quickly threw home, where Tucker Barnhart waited. With Barnhart blocking his path to the plate, Aybar attempted to slide around the Reds' catcher. When he did so, he failed to touch home plate and was called out. Green challenged the call, and after a two-minute, 36-second review, it was upheld, keeping the Padres off the board.

QUOTABLE"I think as the year goes on, we'd love to see a greater measure of consistency, but we understand kind of where we are in the process right now. There's going to be some young guys and some big ups and some big downs, and the more we can level off the downs, the better team we're going to be throughout the course of the season." -- Green, on the Padres' outlook after the sweep

"We played some good games in these six games, but, however, we lost all six and that's not a good sign.'' -- Reds manager BryanPrice, on the Reds' 0-6 West Coast road trip, which extends their road losing streak to nine

SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDSThe Padres swept the Reds for the first time since 2014. Even so, Cincinnati hasn't claimed a season series against the Friars since 2012. San Diego is 19-9 against the Reds since then.

A SAVVY SIDE OF FRANCHWhen Cordero attempted to bunt on the first pitch he saw from Lorenzen in the seventh, third-base coach Glenn Hoffman called him over and delivered a simple message: "Swing." Cordero was already planning on it.

He showed bunt without an intent to actually give himself up for the first out of the inning.

"I was just trying to bring the infield in," Cordero said. "The thought process was try to get them in a little bit more, and then, any ball that I hit would be able to get through."

He proved prophetic, sending the next strike he saw from Lorenzen through the right side to drive in the game-winning run. Cordero wasn't being selfless by laying one down; he was being smart by pretending to. Batting .339 with a 1.008 OPS in his rookie season, Cordero has left Hoffman pleased.

WHAT'S NEXTReds: RHP Tim Adleman kicks off a brief three-game homestand against the Los Angeles Dodgers, with first pitch on Friday night at 7:10 p.m. ET at Great American Ball Park. Adleman has produced three quality starts in his last four outings, going 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA. Against the Dodgers, Adelman has won his only decision in two starts. He surrendered three runs (two earned) and five hits over five innings in the Reds' 9-7 loss to the Dodgers on Sunday.

Padres: The Padres will send rookie right-hander Miguel Diaz (1-1, 6.92) to the mound as they begin a series with the Brewers at 5:10 p.m. PT Friday. Diaz's second career start will come against his first organization, as he spent his first five professional seasons with the Brewers until San Diego took him with the first pick of the Rule 5 Draft this offseason.